This gentle, authentic-feeling coming-of-age drama from Ukrainian film-maker Kateryna Gornostai premiered at the Berlin festival in 2021. Released in the UK almost a year to the day since the Russian invasion, her film has become unbearably poignant. It follows a class of 16-year-olds over the course of a single winter: nothing major happens; they hang out, drink a fair bit, party a little, grapple with sexuality and mental health. Actually, the loveliest thing about the film is how it keeps them all safe. They are nice kids; we leave them with everything to live for.
At times it feels like we’re watching a documentary. The actors seem so relaxed and intimate – like actual classmates who’ve grown up together over the years, and who know each other inside out. The main focus is Masha (Maria Fedorchenko), a hunch-shouldered shy girl with huge eyes and cropped Mia Farrow hair. Masha is a bit of an outsider in class, but she’s confident with her friends Yana (Yana Isaienko) and Senia (Arsenii Markov), an absolute sweetheart. Everyone thinks Senia is gay; he’s OK with that.
The film is so light on its feet, and feels so effortless. Adding to the fly-on-wall texture, there’s some talking-head-style interviews – shot as if a film-maker has come into school to speak to the kids about life’s biggies: love, friendship, hopes and dreams. This is at the end of the school year in summer, as swifts shriek in the background (a reminder, perhaps, of how fleetingly special this moment of adolescence is).
Watching the film now, a scene in the school’s basement is incredibly sad. The class troops in for “pre-conscription training” – a solider teaches them how to load and shoot a rifle. They’re mostly giggling, no clue of what’s to come. In real life, two of the cast and crew have been killed by war: the production designer and one of the adult actors. Most of the teenagers are now living abroad. Director Kateryna Gornostai has been volunteering in a community kitchen in Kyiv. I really hope she gets the chance to make another film.
• Stop-Zemlia is available on 23 February on Klassiki.
